Operation control device

ABSTRACT

AN OPERATIONAL CONTROL DEVICE FOR PERIODIC ACTUATION OF AN AEROSAL DISPENSER OR OTHER UNIT COMPRISES MECHANISM FOR PERIODICALLY ROCKING AN OPERATING LEVER CONNECTED TO THE UNIT, THE MECHANISM INCLUDING ADJUSTMENTS FOR SELECTIVELY VARYING BOTH THE FREQUENCY AND TIME OF ACTUATION OF THE UNIT.

United States Patent [72] Inventor John J. Bell 2,578,632 12/1951 Miller 74/54 Ashlea, Whalley Road, Read, Burnley, 3,179,296 4/ 1965 Caire1li.. 74/54 Lalcllllre, England 3,187,949 6/1965 Mangel 222/7Q [21] Appl. No. 762,860 3,191,456 6/1965 Dexter... 74/54 [22] Filed Sept. 26, 1968 3,269,601 8/1966 Weber 222/70 [45] Patented June 28,1971 3,329,314 7/ 1967 Kolodziej 222/70 3 Primary Examiner-Fred C. Mattern, Jr. 5 OPERATION CONTROL DEVICE Assistant Examirzen-Wesley S. Ratliff, Jr.

10 um o m'ina a. Attorney-Norm & Bateman [52] US. 74/54, 222170 [51] Int. Cl. ..Fl6h 25/08, 867d 5/08 08M An operational control device for pericdic ac- 222/70 tuation of an aerosol dispenser or other unit comprises mechanism for periodically rocking an operating lever con- [s6] CM nected to the unit, the mechanism including adjustments for UNlTED STATES PATENTS selectively varying both the frequency and time of actuation of 2,366,454 1/1945 Pattee 74/568 the unit.

x n 0 r o 34 ,72

PATENTED JUH28 |sn SHEET 1 UF 4 INVENTOR: JOHN JAMES BELL PATENTED JUN28|97I 3,5 7, 332

sum 2 or 4 INVENTOR JOHN JTWIES BELL PATENTEI] JUN28 l9?! SHEET 3 BF 4 INVENTOR: JOHN JAMES BELL BY Mun/a xfimam PATENTEDJUNZBIQII 3587.332

SHEET 0F 4 INVENTOR:

JOHN JAMES BELL OPERATION CONTROL DEVICE There are many instances where it is desirable to produce movement of an operative member at timed intervals, and basically it is an object of this invention to provide such a timed movement. It is also an object of this invention to provide means whereby the duration of the operative movement and timed intervals between successive operational move ments can be adjusted.

According to this invention there is provided an operation control device for producing movement of an operative member at timed intervals comprising a driving motor, a rotary movement initiating member driven relatively slowly by the motor, a rotary actuation member driven relatively faster by the motor, a first force transmitting member so arranged that at each rotation of the actuation member it is moved towards and then away from a second force transmitting member, and a baulking member and means for moving said baulking member into and out of a position between the first and second force transmitting members at timed intervals whereby at least once during each revolution of the movement initiating member a movement of the first force transmitting member towards the second force transmitting member results in a movement of the latter. Adjustable means are preferably provided for varying the number of times during each revolution of the movement initiating member that a movement of the first force transmitting member towards the second force transmitting member results in a movement of the latter. Said adjustable means are preferably constituted by a pair of discs each having a series of slots, said discs being relatively adjustable whereby one or more pairs of such slots can be brought into alignment as required to allow the baulking member to move between the first and second force transmitting members at predetermined intervals during the rotation of said discs. Adjustments of one of said discs relative to the other will preferably be affected by means of a peg which can be inserted in a hole in one of said discs, spring loaded detent means being provided for retaining said disc in an adjusted position relative to the other disc. Preferably, also, the means for moving the baulking member out of the position between the first and second force transmitting members include a cam plate rotatable with the rotary actuation member. The rotaryactuation member will preferably be in the form of a cam, means being provided for varying the duration of the operative movement of said cam. The means for varying the duration of the operative movement of the cam will preferably include a land" member which can be almost entirely retracted within the periphery of circular members which together with said land" member constitute a cam unit, means being provided whereby said land" member can be made to project a determined extend from said circular members to extend the duration of lift of the cam unit.

One application of an operating control device in ac cordance with the invention, and the construction and operation of this form of the device will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the device,

FIG. 2 is an end view partly in section along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a scrap view which will presently be referred to,

FIG. 4 is a scrap view of component parts which will presently be referred to,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 in FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is a scrap view of a further component part which will presently be referred to,

FIG. 7 is a sectional view on the line 77 in FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 is a scrap view of an assembly which will presently be referred to, and

FIGS. 9 and 10 are views of further assemblies which will presently be referred to.

Referring. now to the drawings, there is provided a device embodying the invention for controlling the operation of an aerosol container at regular timed intervals in order to spray deodorant scent or disinfectant (herein all referred to as disinfectant) into a room,- or into an air duct or an air-conditioning/or heating arrangement.

The device includes a light metal frame 10 which can be secured to a wall or other supporting surface, and a pair of resilient clamps 12 which are connected to the frame are arranged to grip an aerosol container so that the latter is located in an upright position towards one side of the frame as shown in chain dotted lines in FIG. 1. An electric motor 14, of the type used in electric clocks, and adjustable mechanism generally indicated 16 are also contained in the frame 10 to rock at intervals a horizontally disposed lever 18, pivoted intermediate its ends about a pivot pin 19, so that an extreme end thereof, which overlies the customary operating valve of an aerosol container held between the clamps l2, depresses said valve for a predetermined length of time. The extreme end of the lever 18 is provided with a spring loaded button 17 which engages the operating valve of the container, and said spring acts against said button with a force greater than that required to open the valve of an aerosol container so that said spring is not compressed unless the valve bottoms." In other words, the spring holds the button at a maximum distance from the end of the lever and is provided merely as a safety device.

The adjustable mechanism 16 comprises a primary shaft 20 journaled in the spaced apart walls of a synthetic plastics moulded casing 21, said shaft being drivably connected at one end to an output shaft 22 of the motor. The other end of said primary shaft is drivably connected to a rotary actuation member constituted by a cam unit generally indicated 24 so that the latter is rotatable at the same speed as the output shaft of the motor, that is to say, approximately 60 revolutions per hour. The cam unit includes two circular parts 26 and 28 and a separate land member 30 as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, said land member is pivoted at 31 to the part 26 and can be almost entirely retracted within the periphery of the circular members, so that the cam unit has a lift of minimum duration, or made to project a determined extent from the circular members to extend the duration of lift of the cam unit. The circular part 26 is drivably connected to the primary shaft whereas the part 28 is rotatable to a certain extent on the part 26, that is to say, between the limits permitted by the sliding of a follower 32 projecting from the land member in a cam track 34 fonned in said part 28. A detent device is built into the cam unit and comprises a resilient lever 36 moulded integrally with the part 28 and having a projecting lip 38 which can engage in turn with a series of notches 40 formed inside a rim 42 of the part 26. Numerals 1 to 10 which are moulded at the periphery of the part 28 can be aligned with a reference mark (not shown) at the periphery of the part 26 to give the duration of lift required, from 1 second to 10 seconds, of a cam follower.

An auxiliary lever 79 which is pivotally mounted at one end about a pivot pin carries at its other end a roller 82 which constitutes the cam follower just referred to. On each rotation of the cam unit, an upward protuberance 81 on the end of the auxiliary lever which carries the roller 82 is lifted for a predetermined period towards an adjacent end of another lever 78 also pivoted on the pin 80 but, being spaced therefrom, this is an idle movement except at adjustably timed intervals as will presently be explained. In FIG. 2 the protuberance 81 is at the upper limit of its movement. The auxiliary lever 79 constitutes a first force transmitting member and the lever 78 constitutes a second force transmitting member.

The adjustable mechanism 16 also comprises a train of gears including a pinion 44 drivably mounted on the primary shaft. Said pinion meshes with a gear 46 which is drivably connected to a pinion 48. The pinion 48 meshes with a gear 50 which is drivably connected to a pinion 52. The pinion 52 meshes with a gear 54 which is drivably connected to a pinion 56, and the latter meshes with a gear 58 which is freely rotatable on the primary shaft. The gear train has an overall reduction of 60 to 1 so that the gear 58 complete 1 revolution per hour.

A so-called initiating wheel is fixed to the gear 58 and, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, includes a pair of discs 60 and 62 which each have a series of peripheral slots and which are relatively adjustable whereby one or more of such slots can be brought into alignment as required. The disc 60 is provided with an annular lip 70 which shrouds the disc 62, and it is in this lip that the slots of the disc 60, eight in number, are formed. Said slots, which are all of equal width, are indicated by reference numbers 601 to 60-8 in FIG. 4. The slots in the disc 62 on the other hand are l l in number and vary in width, being indicated by reference numbers 62-1 and 6241. The arrangement is such that in one setting of the disc 62 there are six equally spaced positions, as shown in FIG. 4, where slots in the disc 62 are in alignment with slots in the disc 60. In subsequent settings of the disc 62, that is to say, settings effected by equal movements of said disc relative to the disc 60 there are successively, four equally spaced positions, three equally spaced positions, two equally spaced positions and one position where pairs of slots are in alignment.

The means whereby adjustments of the disc 62 relative to the disc 60 can be made are constituted by an extraneous peg (shown in chain-dotted lines in FIG. 4) which can be inserted through a slot 64 in the annular lip 70 and into a hole 66 in the disc 62 so that the latter can be levered round, the disc 62 being rotatable on a boss portion 68 of the disc 60. The gear 58 is fixed on the end of said boss portion. Detent means are provided for retaining said disc in an adjusted position relative to the disc 60, said dent means being constituted by a spring loaded steel ball 65 located in a hole 67 in a face of the disc 62 and by a series of five shallow depressions 69 in the adjacent face of the disc 60.

A baulking member 72, which is slidably located on the auxiliary lever 78, bears against an edge of the initiating wheel, that is to say, against the lip 70 of the disc and an edge of the disc 62, and is acted upon by a light spring 74 so that, depending on the setting of the disc 62 relative to the disc 60, it is allowed to move into aligned slots in said wheel once, twice, three times, four times or six times per hour. A nose portion 76 of said baulking member is at these intervals caused to extend through the gap between the protuberance 81 and the adjacent end of the lever 78 so that the next lift of the auxiliary lever 79 by the cam unit is an operative movement and the lever 78 is lifted and this in turn causes the lever 18 to be rocked to operate the valve of an aerosol container held between the clamps l2. Immediately following such an operative movement, the baulking member is retracted once more by a cam plate 84 (shown in FIGS. 6-8) which rotates with the primary shaft 20. A depression 86 in said cam plate (which of course rotates at the same rate as the cam unit 24) extends around and beyond the fullest extent of the land member" of said unit so that the baulking member is allowed to move into aligned slots which have come into position before it in advance of said land member and so that it is retracted only when said land member has passed. The baulking member is then held retracted by said cam plate and by the edge of the initiating wheel until the next aligned pair of slots therein comes into position.

The device is shown mounted on a wood base 88, and when in use the device may be enclosed by a plastics or sheet metal cover as shown in chain-dotted lines in FIGS. 1 and 2. The cover may be provided with an outlet hole (also shown chaindotted in FIG. 1) and a short trumpet may be fixed to the inside of the cover leading to the outlet hole, the inlet of said trumpet registering with the aerosol outlet when the valve is depressed. Such an arrangement will permit disinfectant released by the aerosol to be discharged to atmosphere through the outlet hole in the cover.

Thus it will be seen that there is provided a means whereby the discharge of disinfectant from an aerosol container can be effected at regular timed intervals and whereby the duration of each discharge can be easily and conveniently varied. In this way it is possible to maintain adequate permeation of the atmosphere in a room or in an air-conditioning and/or heating system in conjunction with which the device is used. It will, however, be understood that the invention has been described as embodied in means for discharging the contents of an aerosol container by way of example only. It could, for example, be used for operating a humidifier or for opening and closing gas or water valves at timed intervals. A device embodying the invention may be used in conjunction with electrical apparatus and may operate to open or close a circuit at timed intervals.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appendant claims. For example, the gear ratio of the reduction gearing may be varied as required to enable the device to operate at more frequent or less frequent intervals. Furthermore, the initiating wheel could be differently constructed to provide means whereby the device may be quickly and conveniently adjusted to vary the frequency of operation of the device. For example, the initiating wheel could be provided with a plurality of removable baulking members whereby it is possible to vary the interval between operative movements by adjusting the number and positions ofsaid baulking members. Similarly, the cam unit could be differently constructed to provide means whereby the duration of an operative movement may be quickly and conveniently adjusted, and indeed it would not be outside the scope of the invention for the cam unit to be replaced by a cam plate with a lift of fixed duration. Such a cam plate could be replaced by an alternative cam plate when a lift of longer or shorter duration was required. The electric motor could of course be replaced by a clockwork motor for example. The casing 21 need not be a synthetic plastics moulding. It could, for example, be replaced by a pair of plates spaced apart by a number of spacers or screw threaded rods.

Iclaim: 1

1. An operation control device for producing movement of an operative member at timed intervals, the device comprising a driving motor; a rotary 'movement initiating member drivably connected to said motor by speed reducing means for relatively slow rotation; a rotary actuation member drivably connected to said motor for relatively faster rotation; a movably mounted first force transmitting member; a movably mounted second force transmitting member spaced from said first force transmitting member and having an operative connection to said operative member; a movably mounted baulking member movably mounted with respect to both of said members; and means for moving said baulking member into and out of a position between the first and second force transmitting members at timed intervals whereby at least once during each revolution of the movement initiating member said force transmitting members are connected in force transmitting relation so that a movement of the first force transmitting member towards the second force transmitting member results in a movement of the latter to actuate said operative member.

2. An operation control device according to claim 1, the device including adjustable means for varying the number of times during each revolution of the movement initiating member that the baulking member is displaced whereby the number of times that a movement of the -first force transmitting member towards the second force transmitting member results in a movement ofthe latter is similarly varied.

3. An operation control device according to claim 1, the rotary movement initiating member comprising a pair of discs each having a series of slots in their peripheries, the series of slots in one disc being differently spaced from the series of slots in the other disc whereby one or more pairs of such slots can be brought into alignment as required to allow the baulking member to move between the first and second force transmitting members at predetermined intervals during the rotation of said discs so that a movement of the first force transmitting member towards the second force transmitting member results in a movement of the latter.

4. An operation control device according to claim 3, one of the discs of the rotary movement initiating member being provided with a slot and the other disc being provided with a hole into which an extraneous peg can be inserted through said slot for bringing one or more pairs of the slots in the peripheries of said discs into alignment as required.

5. An operation control device according to claim 1, the rotary actuation member comprising a cam, means being provided for varying the duration of the operative movement of said cam.

6. An operation control device according to claim 1, the rotary actuation member comprising a cam unit, said cam unit including a pair of circular members and a land" member pivotally adjustable with respect to said circular members whereby said land member can be made to reject for a determined extent around the peripheries of sai circular members for extending the duration of lift of the cam unit.

7. An operation control device according to claim 6, wherein a cam track is formed in one of the circular members, a follower being formed on the land member and projecting into said cam track so that said land member is adjustable by moving said circular member relative to the other circular member.

8. A operational control device comprising a movably mounted operating member, a motor, :rotary actuation means connected to periodically move said member, means connecting said rotary actuation means to be driven by said motor at a first speed, and rotary movement initiating means connected to said motor through reduction gearing means so as to be driven by said motor at a second lower speed and comprising means periodically displaced to establish a motion transmitting connection between said actuation means and said member.

9. The operational control device defined in claim 8, including adjustable means in said movement initiating means for selectively varying the frequency of displacement of said periodically displaced means for varying the frequency of actuation of said members.

l0. The operational control device defined in claim 8, wherein said rotary actuation means comprises means for varying the length of each said period of movement of said member. 

